The present invention relates to electronic shelf label (ESL) systems, and more specifically to a dual-communication ESL system and method.
ESL systems typically include a plurality of ESLs. ESLs typically display prices of corresponding merchandise items on store shelves and are typically attached to a rail along the leading edge of the shelves. A store may contain thousands of ESLs to display information about the merchandise items. The ESLs are coupled to a central server from where information about the ESLs is typically maintained. Price information displayed by the ESLs is typically obtained from a price look-up (PLU) file.
ESL systems have bandwidth limitations that could be exceeded as retailers discover the benefits of real-time price optimization. ESL systems also compete with other systems for bandwidth. These other systems include radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, radio frequency (RF) planogram systems, and RF communication systems.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a dual-communication ESL system and method.